Excreta disposing toilet



M y 13, 1954 E. H. SIMPSON ETAL EXCRETA DISPOSING TOILET 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 15/ 1950 FTTOIQIVEY.

M81118, 1954 E. H. smbscN ETAL 2,678,450

EXCRETA DISPOSING TOILET Filed Oct. 15. 1950 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fia.3. /z

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A zawnea a. JIM/JON 60 m pack/16w r J INVENTOR.

y 1954 E. H. SIMPSON ETAL 2,678,450

EXCRETA DISPOSING TOILET 601M420 J/MPJON 60z0aozcz/vmv INVENTOR.

Patented May 18, 1954 Angeles,: Calif assignors -to -&. M Machine Company, Inc., Los AngelsQ Calif.,ia; co poration of California Application-fletobenlii, 1950, Serial Nb. 1904120 6 Claims.

.This invention relates to a waste disposal apparatus. .It relates particularly to A a disposal toilet for waste of the human body,yfor installations under-conditions such that no sewerco'nnection isavailable. Such always the case with moving vehicles. A sewer connection may also be unavailable or impracticable in stationary buildings intemporary or permanent locations and the invention is suitable .for such installations it permitted by the local sanitary and housingiregulations.

i The problem posed by the disposal of body waste on moving vehicles has not been satisfactorily solved. The problem has probably been least-troublesomeon railroad trains, since the toilet roomscan be locked in populous areas and thewaste can bedischarged on the railroads own right of way from fast moving: trains with little objectionable result. The difiiculty or the problem is greater in the case :of busses and house trailers traveling over public'riglits of -way, and reaches its greatest l magnitude in aircraft. Discharge over land areas at lowaltitudes is=obviously undesirable, and even in 'the case of discharge over bodies of water or at high altitudes over land, the relative wind velocity of "the aircraft and surrounding air of the slip stream is great enough tomake the projection of waste matter away from and apart from contact "with the surfaceof the craft impossible withoutthe use of devices which will create a serious drag.

One object of the invention is to provide-a body waste disposal apparatus which will-convertthewastematter into such form-thatit may'be discharged promptly and without intermediate storage into'the open air whether from amoving vehicle orstationary building, without any objectionable result. i

A special object of the invention is the provisionof abody waste disposal apparatus for use with toilets on aircraft which will not "be harmful-1y affected by surrounding atmospheric conditions, or bythe pressure differential be tween the interior of the aircraft and the oiitside "air.

It is another object of the invention toprovide a body waste treatment apparatus which shall receive the wastefrom the toilet bowl-and at once convert the waste liquid and flush water to'vapor and steam, and reduce the waste solid into gases and a "finely 'comminuted ash residue of minimum mass and which shall, after conversion and reduction discharge the steam, gas and "ash "dust into the surrounding atmosphere in a sanitary state and with the least possible amount of solid matter and with that small amount in-a finelydivided, easily'dissipated form. Other objects and advantages of the invention will be appreciated as the following description-of "one embodiment of it is read in conjunction with the ,drawings, of which:

Fig-ure-1 is a side elevational view of a dis appearing waste receiving toilet and the waste disposal apparatus associated therewith, the frame'structure of thevehicle or building in which it is installed being shown in section;

;l=%igure,2;isa vertical sectional view of the waste-incinerator;

FigureS -is-a horizontal section of the incinerator-taken along the line 3 3 of Figure ,2;

Eigure 4 is .a vertical sectional view of the electrically actuated control device for the toilet seat lock; I

,Figureb; is averticalsectional view of the same ;.contr.ol device taken along the line 5-5 ofFisur and a. i

Figurefi is a diagrammatic representation of the electrical controlcircuits by which is effected the. sequential'operation of, the moving parts of the apparatus of the invention for the auto.- matic performance of its function.

The invention is herein described in connection with an aircraft, but may be used with any other type of moving vehicle, or may be installed in a stationary structure. The invention .consistsof three principalparts, the toilet H, or asQit-may be more generically termed, the waste receiver, the incinerator I2, or waste converter, and the blower [3, or waste dissipator.

The toilet-may be of different kinds and yet function satisfactorily with the incinerator and blower. The detailsof construction of thetoilet are not the subject matterof the invention presented andclaimed in this application. The toilet or Wastereceiver described and shown herein, ,is of thexdisappearing type, which is preferable .butunot necessary. ;It is also preferable but not necessary thatthe toilet be designed for the .usexotininimum charges of flush water. Insofar as the mechanicaland electrical devices for the control of the operation of the invention area part of the'invention'the structuralfeatures of the toilet will affectthe details of the arrangement-of these control devices. Except as it afiects, then, the controlof the operation of the incinerator andblowerjthe toilet structure=is not a part of-"the invention claimed-in this application; The incinerator and "blower may even be operated independently of any toilet, the waste to be disposed being deposited by some other means or in some other manner in the incinerator.

The toilet or waste receiver H is of the retractable concealed type. It is shown in Figure 1 in full lines in the retracted position behind a hinged section 14 of. the wall [5, which with the rear wall it, vehicle or building floor H and suitable side walls, form a permanent enclosed cabinet for the toilet. The toilet bowl I8 is permanently secured to the hinged wall section l4 by fastening bolts Hi. It has the usual hinged seat 25, hinged seat cover 2i, and perforated flush ring 22. The hinged wall section [4 with the bowl attached, is held in the retracted position by a vertically movable latch 23 which engages a latch holder 24 secured tothe outer. end of the wall section. The discharge end 25 of the bowl I8 is connected in air-tight fashion to a bellows type flexible fitting 26 which is secured to an apertured plate 26' fastened across the opening 2'! in the floor H.

The flush ring 22 is supplied with water from the flush tank 28 through a flexible hose length 29. The flow of flushing water is regulated by a solenoid operated valve 35 in a 'manner to be later presented. The operation of opening and closing the toilet will be more fully considered when considering the operative cycle of the invention. 7

The incinerator is housed within a chambered cylindrical container 3!. The container 3| comprises a cup-shaped metal casting formed with a cylindrical side wall 33 and a bottom wall 34, and having a meta cover 39 closing the upper open end of the casting. Thermal insulating packs 35a, 55b, 35c overlie the side wall 38, cover 39 and bottom wall 34, respectively, to minimize heat loss. The cylindrical side wall 38 has imbedded therein an electric spirally arranged heating coil 35, the terminals 3;! of which are connected, as will later appear, to a'source of electric current. Heating coils may also be built into'the bottom wall 34 of the container if desired. The flow of current to the heating coil is controlled by a thermostat (not, shown) to limit the maximum temperature of the incinerator to a constant value. The construction of the container canbe varied in its details, the arrangement shown being illustrative only. V The cover 39 has three openings, a central opening 46, and two openings 4| .and 42 for the vent pipe 43 and discharge tube 44, respectively. The bellows fitting 26 has an air-tight connection at its lower end with a short pipe length 45, which is seated at its lower end within the central opening 45 of the cover 35. A trap door 46 is hinged at 4? in the side of the pipe 45 and swings downwardly away from, and upwardly toward, a. circular flange 48 formedon the inner wall of the pipe 45 against which it is normally held in sealed relationship by a spring I55. This trap door is moved downward by va solenoid 49, of which the armature, when it moves outward, pushes a spring retracted lever 55 by means of the link in an arc about its pivot .52. .The arm 53 integrally connected to the trap door, swings upwardly, due to the sliding engagement of its pin 54 with-the slot 55 in the lower end of lever 50. The conditions and means of energizing the solenoid 49 will be explained below.

The difficulty in sanitary disposal of waste from the human body in any other way than discharge into a sewer main, is due to its solid and liquid condition. Assume that it can besuccessfully 0 course of the description, some of the possibleconverted almost completely to gaseous products, and that the extremely small ash residue which remains solid and chemically inert after being subjected to high combustion temperatures in the presence of oxygen, can be finely comminuted. The entire mass of the waste matter can then be blown into the atmosphere or into an ash collector without danger to health, and without offending the sense of sight or even the sense of smell excepting possibly at points close to the discharge opening. The incinerator and blower of this invention are designed for this process of conversion and dissipation of the waste matter.

To eifect the conversion, a novel device is employed. Within the container chamber, an open topped basket (see Figure 2) is mounted to rotate on a vertical axis centrally of the container chamber. The basket has a bottom plate 51 and integral therewith a cylindrical side wall 58 spaced close to the casting wall 38. The side wall 58 has a large number of perforations of relatively small diameter. The diameter and spacing of the perforations may vary under different conditions, with the dimensions of the basket, and with therated speed of rotation of the basket.

The basket has a narrow preferably integral annular flange 58 at its upper rim. The bottom plate 5'! is fixedly secured to a shaft Bil revolvably mounted in the bottomplate 34 of the container. A motor 55 is mountedcoaxially below the shaft 50, and its shaft is flexibly coupled thereto by a heat insulating disk 51. The bottom plate 51 carries a plurality of upstanding fins 62, serrated on their upper edges. The discharge tube 44 extends'well into the basket 58 and terminates in an opening 63, which lies in a plane atan angle of 45 degrees or other substantial angleto the horizontal. This opening is screened at 64 so as to admit to the tube 44 only solid particles of very small size.

A bracket 65 has a rounded base 55 by which it is fastened to the discharge tube 44, and a pulverizing wiper flange 6i projecting radially outwardly from the tube toward the perforated wall 58, and to a vertical terminal serrated edge 68 which lies close to the inner surface of the wall 58. r

The vent pipe 43 has its inlet terminal 69 approximately at the level of the underface of the cover 39. It discharges into the discharge tube 44 at W. The discharge tube 44 continues on from the junction 16 to a blower H operated by a motor 12. The blower exhausts into a discharge pipe 73 which leads to asuitably disposed outlet (not shown).

The operational sequence of the disposal apparatus may be varied somewhat, according to the conditions of the installation. The control devices herein shown and which will now be described, effect a sequence which is well adapted to the inventionas applied to aircraft. In the variations from this sequence will be noted,

adapted either to aircraft installations, to installations on other types of vehicles, or to stationary structures.

Referring to Figure 4, when the toilet His to designedso that this movement is brought about by g-ravitypor by'a suitably arranged spring (not shown). The latch lever 14 is then dropped under the action of the spring 11 to its initial position.

Upon elevating the latch lever M, a lifting link 18 swings upwardly a sprin biased arm 19 which is pivotallysecured at its inner end on a pin 80. I his pin stationarily spans the side walls m of the housing 15. A notched disk 3| carrying a contact arm 82 is also loosely mounted on this pin- 80. A spring biased pawl 83 pivoted to the arm 19 intermediate its ends, rides over one of theratchet teeth of the disk 8! on upward movement'of the arm 19, and turns the ratchet wheel the-angular distance between adjacent ratchet teeth upon downwardmovement of the arm l9. As there are twelve ratchet teeth, the contact arm "is-thereby moved one-twelfth of a full revolution in'a counterclockwise direction.

" A stationary multiple contact disk 84 of nonconducting material is also carried by the pin 86. It--has four contact buttons C equally spaced about its periphery. As shown in Figure 6, these contact buttons C are permanently electrically connected to a current source by the conductor 86, in which is interposed master switch 81 under the manual control of the aircraft pilot or other operator of the disposal apparatus.

Initially the contact arm 82 is in position A or one of the other four similar electrically dead positions around the disk 34. When the toilet is opened for use, the ratchet wheel turns the arm 32 to position B, which is another dead position. When the toilet is manually returned to itsconcealed or closed position, the ratchet wheel turns thearm to the live contact position C.

"Referring now to Figure 6, it is apparent that when the master switch 81 is closed current will flow over conductor 88 to the heating elements 36,: the'basket motor 52 and the blower motor 12. Thus the basket and blower and heating elements will be in operation whenever this switch is closed. The pilot may thus energize these three elements of the disposal apparatus when the air craftfiight begins and tie-energize them at the end of the flight. This arrangement provides that theincinerating and dissipating parts of the apparatus shall be always in operative readiness for the reception of waste matter, and shortens the time required for incinerating any given mass of waste matter over that required when standby heating, is not provided, for, the thermostat in each case being set for the same temperature.

When now, upon retracting the toilet, the contactarm 82 is turned to position 0, a control motor 89' will, through suitable reduction gearing, rotatea master control wheel $0, turning it in a counterclockwise direction from its initial position, shown in full lines in Figure 6. In the initialposition a cam 9| on its outer rim 9?. will permit the radially inward movement of a cam follower 93, which will close the normally open microswitch 9d and permit the flow of current over the conductor 95 to a solenoid 96. This solenoid (see Figure l) will pull upward a hooked extension 91, elevating the arm i9 from its lost motion connection with link 18, and cause the ratchet pawl to move and drop into engagement with the next pawl, and maintain that position until the microswitch is again de-energized at the completion of one rotation of the master control wheel 90. At the latter juncture, the solenoid coil 98 will drop and turn the arm 82 to entire apparatus is set for the next operative cycle .upon the next use of the toilet.

Reverting to the rotation of the. master control-wheel, an elongated cam surface 98 on a second inner rim 99 of the wheel will, when its leading end lifts the cam follower lot, close. a normally open microswitch lill to operate a spring biased solenoid 182 (see Figure 1) which opens the flush valve iii). Flush water flows into the hush ring, and thence into the bowl, and collects with the waste matter on top of the trap door. When the trailing end. of the cam98 again closes the microswitch llll, the de-energized, spring biased solenoid Hi2 closes the valve 36, and the flushing stream is turned oil. When the cam surface 93 similarly operates the normallyopenmicroswitch H13, the solenoid 49 opens the trapdoor 46 shortly after the flush water is turned on and later closes the trap door 46 shortly after the flush water is turned off. The opening of the trap door dumps the accumulated waste matter and flush water into the incinerator baskettfi. Closing of the trap door prevents escape of obnoxious odors from the incinerator into the toilet bowl interior ofthe aircraft.

The waste and water is received by the whirling basket. The materials are thrown against the perforated basket walls. The liquid passes through the perforations and is evaporated by the inner surfaces of the hot side walls 33 of the container. Any liquid which falls to the bottom of the annular space between the walls 38 and the basket walls and enters the clearance space bet veen the bottom plate ill of the basket and the bottom plate 3 of the container is thrown back against the side walls 33 by radial vanes Hi l formed on the under surface of the bottom plate ill or" the basket. The fins 6'2 tend to break up the solid particles of waste matter as they are hurled outwardly against the basket walls. Centrifugal force holds the solid matter against the inner surface of the basket walls, and this solid matter tends to slowly climb the side walls. If it should reach the flange 58 it will be trapped and dropped to the bottom of the basket. Before reaching the flange 58, however, the bulk of the solid particles will be finely comminuted by contact with the serrated edge of the wiper flange 51. Excess solid waste matter will be caught'by the stationary flange ill and dropped back to the bottom of the basket from which it will again be thrown against the basket walls and further dried and subdivided as it is rapidly whirled within the basket and tends to again climb the basket walls. And while the solid matter is thus thrown around and broken into finer and still finer particles, the intense heat of the chamber within the basket and container will incinerate the solid portion of the waste matter, until by chemical combustive reactions with the oxygen oi'the air, the only solid residue is the non-combustible ash, which is a very small fractional part of the original solids entering the basket.

The steam, vapor and gases of combustion will be withdrawn through the vent as and discharge tube 44. The inlet of vent 43, which is finely screened and is at a high level will not receive an appreciable amount of solid matter from the basket. This solid matter, when its particles become light enough that the suction force in the tube 44 overcomes the centrifugal force acting upon them, is drawn into the discharge tube the next following dead position B, in which the which, being screened at its inlet, will permit the passage of only such solid matter as has been very completely burned and divided into small dust-like particles. Through the two outlets will be withdrawn all of the waste matter in its converted form and blown into the atmosphere.

It is apparent that other agencies than electricity may be employed for supplying the heat of the vaporization and incineration. Many other modifications may be made without departing from the principles or scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims. Similarly, the cycle of operation of the apparatus may be modified to suit varying conditions. Thus with stationary installations or on house trailers, the master control wheel may be designed to start the rotation of the basket, the flow of heat energy, and the action of the blower. Under some circumstances the same cycle may be suitable for aircraft. In aircraft installations, also it may be desirableto have the control of the basket r0- tation or of the heat supply or of the blower under the master control wheel, or of any two of these, rather than have them manually placed in standby operation by the pilot during flight periods.

In the case of retractable toilets in house trailers or installations in stationary buildings in which it is impracticable to maintain a standby heating of the incinerator, the heat may be turned on by a switch automatically operated when the toilet is swung from its concealed position. This automatic operation may also be brought about by the weight of the body on the toilet seat, especially if the toilet is not of the disappearing type. lhus the incineration is completed'earlier. The rotation of the basket and operation of the motor may be caused to begin at the time the incinerator receives the waste matter.

I claim:

1. A Waste disposal apparatus comprising in combination: a toilet bowl; 2. container communicating with the toilet bowl through a conduit; heater elements stationarily mounted in the container; a rotatable basket having perforated side Walls positioned in the container to receive excreta from the conduit, said heater elements being disposed adjacent the outside walls of the basket whereby rotation of the basket urges excreta against the side walls where it is comminuted through said perforations and reduced to vapor and ash by the heater elements; and an exhaust pipe communicating with the basket adapted to suck out substantially all of said vapor and ash. V

2. A waste disposal apparatus comprising an excreta receiving toilet bowl; a stationarycontainer below the toilet bowl; a conduit leading from the lower end of the bowl into the upper end of the container; an open topped basket mounted for rotation within the container and adapted to receive excreta from the conduit, said basket having perforated side walls whereby ro- 8 tation of th basket about its central axis will urgeany excreta against the side walls by .centrifugal force; a stationary heater disposed to heat the container and basket to a temperature to vaporize the Water content of the excreta and reduce the solids of the excreta to ash; a stationaryrmember disposed adjacent the side wall of the basket for comminuting the excreta material urged against the basket side walls when the basket is rotating; and a discharge pipe communicating with the container for withdrawing substantially all of said vaporized water and ash by pneumatic suction.

3. An apparatus according to claim 2 in which the toilet bowl is adapted to be swung into a walled compartment when not in use, said conduit from the toilet bowl to'the container being flexible to accommodate such swinging; a normally closed valve in the conduit; and automatic means operable upon swinging the bowl into the compartment for opening the Valve to permit any excreta to pass into the container.

4. An apparatus according to claim 2 in which said basket includes a plurality of upstanding radially directed fins having serrated upper edges, the fins being mounted on the floor of the basket to aid in comminuting of excreta received in the basket upon rotation of the basket.

5. An apparatus according to claim 2, including an additional vent pipe communicating with said basket and said discharge pipe.

6. A waste disposal apparatus comprising in combination: a retractable excreta receiving toilet bowl; a lower container communicating with the toilet bowl through a first conduit; an upper flush tank communicating with the toilet bowl through a second conduit; a first valve in the first conduit and a second valve in the second conduit; a basket in the container adapted to receive excreta when said first valve is opened, the basket being rotatable to urge excreta therein against its side walls; a stationary comminuting member adjacent the side walls; a stationary heater. for raising the temperature of the container and basket to a value sufficient to reduce any excreta in the basket to vapor and. ash; an exhaust pipe communicating with the'basket; means for creating a suction in the pipe for re moving substantialy all of said vapor and ash; and a control system for automatically opening said first and second valves when said toilet bowl is retracted.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

